Everyday thoughts of the girl next door.

Pappa, I want a pen.

Rememebr the days when you HAD to write with a pencil and how those who were allowed to use pens were considered higher mortals? How passing 5th class and graduating to the 6th was all you wanted because you could now write with a pen? And how parents refused to give you a pen because you were not old enough?

I do. I remmeber that because as soon as I was introduced to a pen, I hated using a pencil and wanted to graduate to a pen as soon as possible. I wanted to hold the beloved pen in my hands and run the pen all over the paper and feel myself becoming cooler and more happening than my pencilled self. You had to be careful and measured when using a pen, because unlike with a pencil, you couldnt erase the pen’s deeds. You also needed to be more aware because you could run out of ink in the refill and then you had to go back to writing with the dreaded pencil until the new refill arrived.

And I had already done my research on pens. There are two types of pens – ball and ink. Ball pens are allowed for those who are new to pens. Ink pens are ONLY for people who are exceptional and know how to write without tearing the page. Ball pens were cooler than pencils but the epitome of coolness were ink pens, the king of coolness being the Hero pen.

Something made me think of writing and pens today.

Remember the days when you HAD to write with a pencil and how those who were allowed to use pens were considered higher mortals? How passing 5th class and graduating to the 6th was all you wanted because you could now write with a pen? And how parents refused to give you a pen because you were not old enough?

I do. I remember that because as soon as I was introduced to a pen, I hated using a pencil and wanted to graduate to a pen as soon as possible. I wanted to hold the beloved pen in my hands and run the pen all over the paper and feel myself becoming cooler and more happening than my pencilled self. And I had already done my research on pens. There are two types of pens – ball and ink. Ball pens are allowed for those who are new to pens. Ink pens are ONLY for people who are exceptional and know how to write without tearing the page. Ball pens were cooler than pencils but the epitome of coolness were ink pens, the king of coolness being the Hero pen. There were other pens like the pilot pen, but more on them later.

Although I considered myself smart and cool and exceptional enough to start with an ink pen, I had to make do with the ball pen because that is what you were supposed to do. You had to be careful and measured when using a pen, because unlike with a pencil, you couldn’t erase the pen’s deeds. You also needed to be more aware because you could run out of ink in the refill and then you had to go back to writing with the dreaded pencil until the new refill arrived, and once you get pen on your hands, you cannot like using the pencil ever again, or so you thought.

So then you got a ball pen and for a while it was fancy enough to hold your awe. Slowly but surely you started pining for the BIG I, the ink pen. You had to first convince the parents that you NEED an ink pen because (1) the teacher says so, (2) You are careful enough to handle ink, (3) your handwriting will improve and (4) everybody is using one and you are the odd one out. Since parents are smart and don’t buy 2, 3, or 4, and know that 1 is negotiable, they go and ask the teacher, and there your bhanda is broken(bhanda phoot gaya), but since you grovel and cry and roll on the ground, they buy you a cheap ink pen and a bottle of royal blue ink. Thus your journey with the ink pen, or the fountain pen, as the sophisticated called them, began.Although it is worth mentioning here that the fountain pen is really different from the ink pen. It has a suction system, with a small capillary tube that directs ink to the writing tip, as against a regular ink pen which does not have one. The Hero is a fountain pen.(GOD! So much faltu information about pens…na?) Countless stained shirts, broken nibs, spilled ink later, you finally manage to learn to write with the ink pen, without splitting the nib, without tearing the paper and without staining your fingers, in the process, pretending that your handwriting has REALLY improved, and now you are ready for the king of all pens, the Hero pen. Another session of crying, begging and rolling on the floor later you finally get your hands on the Hero pen. Since it is such an expensive and revered pen, you are extra careful, wrap it in a hankie before putting it in your pencil box(don’t roll your eyes, I used to do that) and never ever let anyone borrow it.

You are in your dream world of the perfect pen for the perfect girl and your reverie is shattered by that snotty girl who walks in with a pen that you have never seen before. Through whispers from others you come to know that it is called a pilot pen and does not need ink but is not a ball pen. Pilot pens are schizophrenic creatures. They are not ink pens, in that they don’t need ink per se, but aren’t ball point either. They need a felt column dabbed in ink that drives the pen to write. The tip is also very weird and funny looking. You want to try writing with it to see if it matches up to your Hero but the snotty girl doesn’t like you very much(yeah remember you made fun of her because she was dumb?) and you are left with begging the parents again. But by this time the parents don’t care so much and buy you a pilot and you realise it just doesn’t stand up to the might of the Hero, and you plod on with your Hero like before.

Eventually, years of groveling, scheming, writing and tearing pages later it dawns on you that the instrument does not matter at all. You grow up and life takes over you and you forget all about your battles for pens, and settle down happily with a Reynolds which allows you to write faster and cleaner, so that you can ace that engineering exam. Work then takes over life and small pleasures of writing are forgotten. You are finally at a stage where writing even a single line on a piece of paper seems alien to you, when you get used to typing pages after pages on your laptop. So much so that you look at the chicken scratch on the yellow post it stuck on your table and wonder what you wanted to remember to do exactly on 8/27/09(with a red underline, no less). And that made me remember my travails with pens!

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21 Responses

So much of obsession with past and pens. Well, that is the contemporary style of living we chose.. didn’t we? Even after graduation, I used to write snail mails to some of my cousins with Indian defense services. But now, they have computers with internet connection in most of the places. So, even that opportunity is void right now!

No wonder we all write on this blogosphere right now to compensate for the desperate need to write something 🙂True. Well said!

such an indepth study of pen wow!!!!!
i am reminded of something
when I was young ( in school days) and had just started with pens . not being used to writing with it ,so lots of nibs used to get broken and we had to go on buying new nibs
so when my daughter graduated to writing with pens i also bought some 5-6 sprare nibs to replace the broken ones

but i was in for a shock
as soon as the nib broke , she threw the pen and bought a new one . her excuse every one does it, no one repalces nibs mummy, dont be old fashioned
times had really changedReally a new pen if the nib is broken? really?

That is so true. Your post takes me back to the times when I had just graduated to class 8 and I was the privileged one (and my younger sisters were not) who could write with a pen. and my Dad opened his stash of fine chinese pens he had collected over yeas of travelling.Wow I love that!

He gave me first one of those asking me to be very careful with it, not to break its nib, bought me the first bottle of camel ink. I used to check the ink level in the pen every night while setting my bags !!
And yes I do remember everyone saying: Writing with ink pen will help you improve your handwriting. So avoid pilot pens or ball pens 🙂
Those were really the days. However, in this era of keyboard and texting, I still write at least one hand written letter every month to my parents and brother in India and that too in hindi. I just don’t use a ink pen though 🙂That is amazing Parul! you write letters even now> I should try that.

Cute post. I had a great showoff phase becasue I had Hero and Parker fountain pens in my 6th grade!!! I even wrote my engg exams with Hero. Of course, superstition (lucky pen???) was more the reason than any illusion of good handwriting.

Life came a full circle when I went to grad school in the U.S.
Here people write their exams in pencil 🙂True everyone writes their exams in pencil. I never paid attention until I saw your comment!

Nice post. Took me back to my school days. The great Hero pen!! Mine was dark green with a gold cap. I remember how I got mine to write smoothly. After writing reams and reams for years! The whole process of ‘breaking in’ the pen and making it ‘soft’ – almost like taming a wild horse. The only competition it had was from Sheaffer (is that how its spelled? I forget). These wonder pens came ‘pre softened’ and almost dethroned my Hero. But fate played a hand and the Sheaffer fell off my desk and broke. The strangest thing.Was it your jealous classmates?

Writing is a wonderful hobby and a skill. As you have rightly observed, with the coming of the digital age, handwriting is fast becoming obsolete. So literacy in the future may require only reading and typing skills. Not writing!!Yeah very soon actual writing might become obsolete!

Your post brought back memories 🙂
I used to collect pens and like Anju above said, we needed spare nibs and I tried the same for my kids, and they were not interested, they like gel pens (now accepted in all schools) I still love stationery Shilpa… but now I like pencils as much.Yay I love stationery too! The smell of crisp paper, of notebooks, the feel of a freshly sharpened pencil!

When I started writing with pens, we were only allowed to do so with fountain ppens – ball point pens were a big no-no for us…I remember the mess we used to create while filling our dearest possessions with Chelpak Royal Blue ink…Ah, those were the days!Chelpark! That was the name of the ink…wow!

We were only allowed fountain pens in school and I had lots of Hero pens and my Dad gave me his treasured Parker 51 (which my brother lost later 😦 ). The ink I used was Blue-Black Chelpark.Chelpark was the ink! Parker was something I always wanted to have, and finally did….

I could totally identify with what you’ve written!! I too, waited for the day I could begin to use the fountain pen! Strangely, everytime somebody would borrow one of my pens, they just wouldn’t write the same again! I am still obsessed with stationery 🙂 Nice post, Shilpa. Brought a smile to my face 🙂Yes I never lent my pens to anyone….and whenever U did, they lost it!

yes, but i loved Fountain pens when i started off!!! China pens!!!! AND PILOT PENS!!!!! those were precious!!!
no borrowing allowed, and if i had to give it, it wud be under scrutiny!!! 😛 😛

i was a disaster with ink pens… i always tested the ink without thinking and spolied my uniform…. one i left a BIG trail of ink splatter on the girl sitting in front of me, coz i jhatkaoed the pen to see if ink is there!!!! 😛
good thing she was a mild-tempered one!!!!what? you jhatkoed the ink on her? hehe Crafts you are a darling!

😀

i am currently loving gel pens… in all colours! i freaked on a purple one, me writes only letters with that one! 😀

yes, I remember going through half of those things – the ink pen, fountain pen, Hero pen, pilot pen routine and finally settling down to the ease and comfort of the reynolds and ruining a perfect handwriting into undecipherable scribbles.Yeah ruining the handwriting alright!
And guess what I use to write these days?
the good old pencil!
Brought back a lot of memories.

Aah you missed out the cartridge versions which gave me a feeling of having bullets that i needed to reload my guns(read pens) with 😛

I had an aversion to points, never liked them at all, fountain pens really made handwriting improve :D. This theory however went out for a toss during board exams, when i used a pen gifted by class teacher (Reynolds Jetter).

Afterwards it was one gifted by ex which i used to write my engineering exams 😀
aah i aced all of them, so much for love *sigh*ahha the power of love…hehehe

exactly, exactly! For anyone to realize the fact that ” a pen is just an instrument”, one has to go through all these stages of fighting for fancy pens. And not only with pens, but this is true for many little things in life. 🙂
A good post.